Help Please! I'm the scrawniest guy!

[puny_guy]

Please help me people!

I'm very self conscious and un-confident, and I know exactly why I am this way. My problem is I'm pretty small (5'8") and I'm thin. Not just thin I mean RAIL THIN. I'm too embarresed to even type my weight here but you get the idea. I'm like Calista flockhart. Most girls I meet have bulkier arms then me! It's not a nice feeling when you meet women and and there arms-legs are bigger then your own and there younger!!!

 

I'm 18 and for some strange reason everyone in my family is on the large size except for me. I just know if I could bulk up I'd have way more confidence and wouldn't be so self conscious. It's gotten to the point that I wear baggy clothes in summer just to cover up my haggard looking frame. Another strange thing is that I also for some reason unknown have a kind of small "pot belly". Do you realize how goofy looking it is to be RAIL THIN yet have a small pot belly!?

 

Now I know what some people are going to say, get a gym membership. Well I'm wayyyy to self conscious to enter a gym. I live in a small town and everybody knows everybody so entering a gym would be EXTREMELY uncomfortable for me. I know for SURE that all my insecurties come from my weight. So my question is how do I bulk up WITHOUT joining a gym??? What sort of foods should I eat??? What is the quickest way to bulk up? I've been very insecure for a few years now, please help me.

 

I've searched around on the net but alot of different sites contradict each other on how to bulk up. I would like to hear some personal advice if you people could. Thank you so much.

[Shyguy24]

Well I could suggest that u could , try out gym programmes like BODY for Life , basically u need to get a lot of fat protein in your body, this will increase your body weight .

 

Try eating a lot of red meat like beef and stuff as that has a lot of fat in it you will soon start to put on a lot of pounds

 

There are also proper supplements available in the market for increasing weight they come in the form of shakes and chocolate bars. There are no of sites on the web which have detailed info on these products chk them out ..

 

Good luck

 

[puny_guy]

Thanks guys. But what is the go with my small pot belly when I'm STICKMAN!? I don't understand it......... If I knew someone that was selling anabolic steroids I would take them without any second thoughts! That's how bad I feel about my self image.

 

Anyway I was thinking of perhaps seeing a dietician but I'm just toooooo embaressed to see some dietician because he'll think in his mind "jesus christ this young guy is a real twig!"

 

I'm not the poorest man so I have some $$$ to spend. How about perhaps looking for a personal trainer? Do they know how to bulk up fast without telling every other person in this small town what a "snap" I am???

 

Shyguy24 said: "basically u need to get a lot of fat protein in your body, this will increase your body weight ." Yes but what little weight I gain it seems to ALL go onto this little ridiculous gut I have, so I don't know.

 

Shadowdancer said: "And keep in mind you don't have to get all THAT bulky, there's plenty of women who don't want a musclebound hulk!" That's true. I don't want to be a muscle bound hulk really. I would just like to be average or a little above average in the muscle stakes. I'm like Calista Flockhart without the breasts right now! I think my account name should have been "stickman", it's far more accurate. Anybody know what I dietician especializes in?? Do they no how to build some muscle on a little runt like myself? Ta....

[mjones.uk]

Hi,

 

Being only 18 you're a good age and base to start building yourself up if you want to. When I was 18 I used to get called 'Bones' because I was so thin, but for the past year or so (I'm now 28 ) I've been working out in the gym in a bid to lose weight!

 

I would really advise visiting the bodybuilding forum muscletalk.co.uk There are many excellent, knowledgeable people on that site, the owner himself being a professional dietician and bodybuilder.

 

I have learnt loads from the guys on that site, and they would be more than willing to give you some advice!

 

All the best!

[phil1981UK]

Hey buddy,

 

Firstly I used to be just like you, so I know how you feel. Gyms, healthy protien diets and stuff aint gonna help you cos you either wont be able to afford it or you will get found out doing it (which you dont want from the sound of it due to the embaressment).

 

If you have a manual labour job it will be harder, if you dont do much physical activity it will be much quicker. Basically follow these ideas, dont give in and in a month you'll notice the difference:

 

1. Obviously eat lots, and I dont mean nice lean meats or anything, I mean eat absolutly everything in sight. Eat big peanut butter sandwhiches, lots of bread, potatoes if you can, as much meat as possible (it dosnet matter what it is, burgers, sausages etc), just eat all the time.

 

2. Do what ever muscle exercises you can, you dont need to be in a gym. Do pushups, situps, find something heavy and lift it everyday for half an hour, your bed, a car wheel, an old bike, whatever, just lift things in lots of different ways so you work you legs, back, arms, and chest.

 

You wont be "cut" from doing this and I expect everybody on here to bang on about how unhealthy it is but they dont understand what your getting at, you are too young to worry about eating lots of rubbish for a couple of years, you can eat healthy later!

 

Just eat everything and lift something and you'll be 180lb before you know it!

 

Dont just sit there, make a sandwhich NOW!

[buffalosoldier]

Sorry this might not be of much help but there are actually weight-gaining milkshakes that you can buy from chemists and stuff,not on prescription either. Or failing that i know for a fact that if you went to the doctors they would prescribe you with some good stuff to beef you up,my sister had the same problem and they gave her some terrific stuff.

 

Either way,whatever you do,its not gonna happen over night so be prepared to give it time,but dont give up!!

 

Good luck.

[Tr0ubledGuy]

Hey Man.

 

I know what its like. I am 20 and am still really thin. I have had this weight issue my whole life too. Ya know there is nothing on the web about gaining weight, its all about supplements and thousands of ads for wieght loss, gets depressing when every one is trying to lose the very thing you are trying to gain and its being stuffed in your face

 

Most advice is eat everything and its not bad advice, but if your like me you do that already. I also have a very lazy lifestyle, my day usually consists of playing games in front of my computer when I have free time, so by most peoples standards I should be huge.

 

But certaintly continue to eat, eat more if you can. Its easier for people like us to lose the weight than it is to gain it. Pushups will do nothing in the way of gaining you weight, they are fine for keeping in a basic level of shape if you have nothing else. I have treid the pushup thing cause I was told it would help. The lifting heavy objects around the house sounds like a good idea, not sure how well it works though. Same with shakes I have no knowledge how effective they are. But the best advice is the gym. There is no better way!! You should join the gym, I understand how embarrassing it would be to go into a gym looking like you don't belong. I have wresteled with the thought myself. I would like to join a gym but currently I am attending school and can't afford it, can't wait for the day I can. You have to work up the courage to go in and check it out. Its tough, but you need to do things that you as yourself would not normally do. Thats the first step in changing. It feels good once you accomplish something that you didn't have the guts to do before. As for what people might say....... who cares. You can't hide from embaressment forever, the more you try, the more it finds you, facts of life.

 

As for your potbelly, I have one too and as I have said I am thin myself. The reason is your frame and body fat. Muscle is attached to your frame so if you start putting on muscle your frame will need to grow to accommodate it. You have a potbelly beacause you are not as fit as you could be, and your frame can support the current fat by placing it in the normal areas (stomach, waist).

 

Good luck man!

[puny_guy]

Thanks guys! Well I CAN afford a gym membership and what you guys said it encouraged me! But I wouldn't know WHERE to begin in weightlifting in a gym.

 

Does anyone know if Gyms have like personal trainers that know EXACTLY how to get a guy like me to get some good muscle? Because I have no Idea on how much you should lift, how much you should rest, reps.... etc etc. Thanks.

[enadevoli]

i would say that you should go see a dietrician... i know its embarrassing, but they have seen it all anyway. they aren't going to think "oh my, he's sooo skinny i dont even want to look at him" about you. its their job to help people like you, they chose that job (hopefully) because they want to help people with weight problems. so im sure they have seen cases like yours a lot. most people are self conscience about their weight, & they understand, they have probably been down that road before too.

[savagegerbil1607306442]

I know how ya feel buddy. Over the past year I've dropped from 190 to about 150 now and I am 6'1 so it makes for a scrawny body.

 

First thing ya gotta do is get rid of your insecurity. Second, whether you want to or not I would recommend hitting the gym. Think about it, everyone who goes there didnt start off with a great body and when they see you they will know exactly why your there, and would be willing to help you, not criticise you.

 

I've found that no matter what I eat and what I do I still stay skinney, so instead of hiding what I dont have under baggy clothes I show off what I do have. Skin hugging clothes is in, flaunt how your skinney.

 

Someone doesnt like ya for how skinney you are, their the one with the problem, not you.

[musicguy]

puny_guy, I feel you. I'm 24, I'm 5'6 and I'm 110 lbs. I've been like this since I graduated. I too am trying to find ways to gain weight. Unfortunately, I have my dad's genes and he's a smaller guy, so I have to accept it.

[Nate]

There is no such thing as genes that will keep someone from bulking up - everyone can gain weight as long as they use the right diet and are determined.

 

You need to be getting 3500+ cals a day - for some people 4500+

You've got to eat more then your body burns. This usually means eating 6+ meals a day. I wouldn't listen to the people telling you to eat ANYTHING you still want to eat healthy, no fast food. The 6+ meals are usually smaller in size, you normally eat every 2 - 3 hours, a couple of the meals normally include a whey protien shake.

 

You want to make sure you're eating a variety of healthy foods - pasta - apples+peanut butter - PB'js - fruits/veggies etc.

 

Ideally you want to gain 2 lbs a week.

 

Check out this thread for some good inspiration on going from skinny to buff:

 

link removed

 

With the right diet and motivation you CAN get bigger.

 

Follow these 3 simple rules: Lift BIG - Eat BIG - Sleep BIG

[Nifty_Swifty1]

I was the same way. I ate everything in sight, and was known as green bean. The only thing that ended up working for me came about as an acident in collage. I ran out of money and couldn't aford food for a while. After loosing allmost 10 pounds in the corse of a week I got my next paycheck and once again was able to eat. I ended up gaining 25 back. Its the problem a lot of women end up with in crash dieting. You shock your metabalisim and end up slowing it down. I wouldn't sugest you do this becouse not eating for a week is hell, not to mention a little risky to your heath.

[puny_guy]

Thanks again to those that replied. But I just thought of something. You know how some overweight people say there big boned, well is it possible that some skinny people just have thin bones?? And can't gain much weight because of their bone structure? Thanks again.